The state of love and trust

As far as I'm concerned, the whole Wikileaks situation is one of the most influential occurrences of the internet generation, and for some reason people are really missing the point.

To summarize, the US had established a sort of "2nd internet" system (disconnected from the web as we know it) sometime before 9/11, and it was designed to be kept quite small so only vetted sources could access it. But since that time it's expanded to include almost 3 million users. And now it's happened that one or several of those users has allowed hundreds of thousands of classified documents to be released to the public.

From what I've read, well over 95% of the leaked documents have yet to be released to the public, but the small fraction that has been released has been embarrassing, if not damaging, to various governments. And I have no doubt that the best is yet to come. But the content itself has taken a back-burner to the various spins that have been generated by the media. The most obvious one is the Julian Assange arrest/extradition situation.

When you kick a hornet's nest, you've gotta expect a few stings. So it's no surprise to me that he's being persecuted right now. It's awfully timely that these women have come forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct (I'm not totally clear on the charges), but I think it was wise of him to turn himself in, rather than make a spectacle of his capture.

Regardless of the outcome of his case, the key point should be noted that it has absolutely nothing to do with the leaked documents. (And if found guilty, you have to question the validity of the verdict. It's probably not that hard to cook up a few witnesses or documents, especially if you've got the power of the US gov't to do it.) But the US would love nothing more than to draw the spotlight away from itself in this situation.

Nothing is more damaging to US foreign relations than the truth.

I absolutely love the fact that governmental policies and diplomats everywhere are having their masks removed. These jokers are being shown for who they really are, without all of the political correctness that has passed as the status quo for so long. And I expect that countless people will be fired or removed from their positions once all is said and done.

But I do have to feel for Obama. He's struggling to account for ideologies that have been in place for decades, most of which he had no power over.

On the other hand, I don't have any compassion whatsoever for the gutless companies (MasterCard, Paypal, etc.) that have been the victim of cyber attacks by the Anonymous group after doing all they can to cut Wikileaks down. If you side with the powers that be, be prepared for the day when the masses unite against you.

And I think that's the point we should all look at more than anything - for too long people have turned a blind eye to the deeds of the governement, but recent events have shown that we should've been paying more attention before. And now that the lights have been turned on, we don't fucking like what we see. And if enough people see that light, viva la revolution baby. The future of transparent governments, the interwebs, and society as a whole might hang in the balance. Exciting times we live in...